Growing and Seasoning With Oregano - Culinary and Medicinal Uses

As I was searching for a way to grow Oregano and other herbs close to my house, perhaps on my deck, I found the following kit and liked it a lot because it wouldn't take up a lot of space. With a sunny window or doorway, the herbs can grow inside.

The following comes with all you need to grow Chives, Basil and Oregano. Of these three, one, Basil, is an annual, it comes up for one season. When you snip off the tops of the basil plants to cause the plants to spread, you can put the cuttings in water, and they will root to grow new plants. You can replant these outside or inside to replace the plants you have growing with the smaller plants. You can also leave them in water to to grow for a while...if you do this be sure there are no leaves under the water line or they will decay.

Oregano and Chives are perennials, they come up each year if grown outdoors in the garden. You can grow them in your indoor container for a time as well.

Oregano is in the mint family, so will spread like mint. We "control" that by planting it in our more difficult soil, as it is a hearty, drought resistant plant. Little to no cultivating and care is needed if you have a busy life and not enough time to spend in the garden. You will want to snip off the flowers for a while as it is better for the plants that you will be using for seasoning, but I always leave a section of the patch to flower for the bees, they love the oregano flowers.

Oregano is a "kitchen herb" and can be a wonderful addition to a kitchen garden. A kitchen garden is usually in a place that is easy to get to from the kitchen, so you can run out and pick what you need as you are preparing your meal. In my case, it would be a container garden on my deck. There were quite a few pretty prints when I clicked through and searched "oregano prints", but I liked this one in particular.

Oregano essential oil is high in antioxidants, and has anti-microbial properties. It is in a very concentrated form and should be used with care and as directed. It is used for a variety of things, both topically and taken internally. As with all essential oils, you will need to educate yourself as to how to use this properly, our focus here is more culinary, but you will find a lot of information about how to use Oregano Oil and what conditions it is used for, plus precautions, if you search here on Squidoo or on the web.